UGC asks univs to refund 100% fee in case of cancellation of admission up to October 31

New Delhi: A move that could bring a sigh of relief to hundreds of parents and undergraduate aspirants, the University Grants Commission (UGC) is going to issue a notification on Wednesday making it mandatory for universities to refund the entire fee, including all charges, in case of cancellation/ migration up to October 31, 2022.

As per refund policy of many private universities, which are starting their academic session from mid-August and September, post one-month from the start of classes students will not get any refund in case of cancellation of admissions. With the Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG) ending on August 20, 2022 and the results are likely to take around 15 days, many aspirants have secured a seat in private higher education institutions as a backup option. By the time the admissions in the central universities and other participating universities start, the refund window will expire.

Earlier in view of the Covid-19 situation, the UGC in July 2021. has stipulated the provision of refund of fees on account of all cancellations of admissions/ migrations of students during the academic session 2021-2022. Also, UGC on July 12, 2022 has requested the higher educational institutions to fix the last date of their undergraduate admission after declaration of CBSE Class XII results so as to provide sufficient time to such students for admission. The Commission also noted that admissions may continue up to October, 2022.
In order to avoid financial hardships being faced by parents, professor M Jagadesh Kumar, chairperson, UGC has said that UGC has decided to write to all HEIs that full refund of fees should be made by the higher educational institutions on account of all cancellations of admissions/ migrations of students up to October 31, 2022 for the academic session 2022- 2023 as a special case.

In the letter that UGC is writing, it is also made clear to the HEIs that the entire fee, including all charges, should be refunded (i.e., there should be zero cancellation charges) on account of cancellations/ migrations up to October 31, 2022. Thereafter, on cancellation/ withdrawal of admissions up to December 31, 2022, the entire fee collected from a student should be refunded in full after deducting not more than Rs 1000 as processing fee.

UGS has asked all the HEIs to ensure the compliance of the directions in respect of refund of fee in view of pandemic related factors.